we talked to franklin graham about the book, the author, "killing jesus" and why it's causing so much controversy. that's tomorrow. "anderson cooper" starts right now. book. tomorrow, the author of "killing jesus" and why it's causing so much controversy. that's tomorrow. "anderson cooper" starts right now. good evening, everyone. a lot happening tonight. word that barbara walters is soon retiring. president obama laying down the gauntlet on gun control. nelson mandela is seriously ill and back in the hospital. also, also in south africa, the so-called blade runner, oscar pistorius, he killed his girlfriend, is charged with her murder. he's already out on bail but now he gets a slew of new freedoms. we'll explain what ahead. also later tonight, diving with deadly nile crocodiles. i went in search of crocodiles with two daring filmmakers in botswana. we'll show you what it's like to come face-to-face under water with these extraordinary prehistoric creatures. we begin tonight with new revelations in the sandy hook killings that claimed the lives of 20 young students and six brave educators. we should mention that we do as

much as we can on this program to honor the lives of those children and those adults and as little as possible to give their killer any kind of attention at all. however tonight there is new information about that young man that has bearing on the story and to some, changes in gun policy now being discussed. with that in mind, authorities under pressure from the families released new documents today showing that the killer had an arsenal, more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition in the home he shared with his mother who became his first victim. he killed her with a .22. they also found two rifles, a hand gun, bebe gun, samurai swords and several other knives. in his room, photos of dead bodies and an article about the 2008 school shooting that left five students dead in northern illinois. also in the home, a christmas card with a check written out by his mother, earmarked for yet another firearm. in addition to the inventory at home, other documents revealed that 154 spent casings were found at sandy hook elementary from that bushmaster military style rifle that he used to kill

all 26 people there. 26 dead in less than five minutes. the shooter carried nine 30-round magazines. police also recovered a loaded shotgun from his car and nearly six dozen 12 gauge shells. with that as a backdrop, newtown parents and survivors of other school tragedies gathered today at the white house, the president declaring this is the moment for congress to act. >> this is our best chance in more than a decade to take common sense steps that will save lives. i haven't forgotten those kids. shame on us if we have forgotten them. >> congress debating a number of gun control measures. the president underscored how uncontroversial he believes they are. new polling from cbs news shows 90% want federal legislation requiring background checks on all potential gun buyers. that's largely a nonpartisan view, according to the poll. support from 96% of democrats, 89% of independents and 86% of republicans. however, that same polling shows more general support for stricter gun laws fading since newtown.

with 47% now favoring tougher legislation which is down ten percentage points from december, shortly after the sandy hook tragedy. so there's mixed messages there. let's talk about it with democratic strategist and former obama 2012 pollster, cornel belcher, also emily miller, senior opinion editor at the "washington times." emily, what do you make of president obama saying shame on us if we have forgotten newtown? >> i would say the only person that should be ashamed is president obama. we haven't heard him talk about gun control in weeks, and suddenly on the day which everyone knew in advance that connecticut was releasing all this information about what happened at sandy hook, he suddenly has a press conference at the white house and starts calling for more of his political agenda. it's just -- i think it's disgusting. that's what he's been pushing for since before he got re-elected and he will continue to push for it. >> cornel, what about that. emily is saying shame on the president. >> same on the president for wanting to protect americans. shame on the president for calling for common sense

solutions on guns that 91% of americans support. shame, really here should be on those who stand in the way of it. i mean, look, these high capacity clips, background checks, we have a moral obligation to try to protect, you know, there's no perfect law. however, if we can keep guns out of the hands of one crazy person, don't we have the moral obligation to do that? so i think there's some shame to go around but it's not on the president and people who are trying to stand in way of common sense solutions that 91% of americans want. hey, that's not bipartisan when 91% want it. it's not a red state or blue state issue when 91% of americans want something. >> cornell, you did say 91% several times. let's be clear about what you're talking about. if you're talking about more gun control laws, only 26% of registered voters want more gun control laws. what you're specifically talking about is the so-called universal background checks. that is what the president wants and i do think that, you know, republicans, people on both sides of the aisle want to strengthen the background

checks. we have in place laws. all of which, you know, this horrible killer, as anderson said let's not mention his name, committed. he had broke all these laws. we have laws against someone who is mentally ill carrying a gun, laws against someone who is a felon, that case wouldn't apply to him, someone under 18. we have laws in place. the problem is, two major problems. one is that these mental health records are not being put into the federal background, fbi federal background check. the results are not being put into the system so people aren't getting caught. also, criminals don't buy their guns from dealers that do checks. you can background check the world, you can background check your mom and dad, but the criminals aren't getting their guns that way. they're buying them on the streets, 80%, according to the justice department, 80% of criminals bought their guns on the streets or stolen from friends and family. they're not going through background checks. i think it would be hard to believe someone is going to be buying, selling or stealing a gun off the street, the seller is going to stop and pick up the cell phone, call the fbi and do a background check.

>> am i understanding that now you are supporting closing the loopholes in gun shows and supporting closing loopholes that allow these people to buy guns and -- >> let me ask you a question. >> are you now supporting -- you talked for a while. let me ask a couple questions. now you're supporting that. what you're saying is really we don't need any more gun laws whatsoever. what we are having right now is just fine, that the vast majority of americans right now just have to grin and bear it and take tragedy after tragedy so that a few people can do whatever they want whenever they want with guns, the rest of us just have to sort of grin and bear it? i don't think -- i think that's selfish. i don't think that's reasonable. i know it's politically not tenable. >> emily, when you talk about strengthening background checks and say there are a lot of republicans who agree they should be strengthened, what you're saying, though, is strengthening existing ones, more prosecutions of people who have lied on background checks, making sure states report information more than they currently are. but do you support any further increasing of background checks

to cover all sales or private sales or some private sales? >> well, anderson, i just want to clarify because cornell asked me a question that i wanted to respond to. he asked if i favor closing the gun show loophole. since we seem to be hijacking your show, i want to ask him how many percentage of people get their guns through gun shows. does he know the answer to that? >> you know what, i don't care how many percentage of people get their guns at gun shows. >> so you don't know the answer. my point -- >> if one person gets a gun through a loophole and they kill somebody, you know what? that's enough for me. >> you're operating off some sort of world view which president obama has that we pass laws based on helping one person. if we do that, we'll have to pass a lot of laws because a lot of people died -- >> so we shouldn't try to save one life? >> let me finish. we are universally human beings who care, who want to keep our kids safe, who want to stop criminals on the streets. we all have been victims of crime. we all want to protect ourselves. that is universal. how we go through it has got to be done by policy.

it's got to be done by fact. there has been one major study by the government, done by the cdc, a two-year study looked at every gun law, state, local and federal level. it concluded, the cdc is obviously not a pro-gun organization, in fact, it's the opposite, it concluded there has never been one single law on the books at any level that has reduced crime. or has stopped any kind of mass shooting. >> wait, wait. let me just jump in here. emily, let me jump in here. there are background checks in place and those background checks have stopped criminals from getting guns. we know it has stopped convicted felons. we know people have been rejected on those background checks. >> we know people who have been rejected -- >> how can you say that hasn't had any impact? you can't study a crime that didn't occur. >> let's go back to what happened today at the white house. the president has called for a lot of things. he spent three months exploiting this horrific tragedy and now he's calling for this quote universal background check. the reason he is is because he wants universal registration. he wants to know who owns guns, where they are and everyone who owns them.

that's not according to emily miller. >> hold on. you just made a jump in logic. cornell, let me ask you about this jump in logic she just made. do you believe the president, that anybody who wants to expand background checks to cover private sales, gun show sales, however small the gun show sales may be, wants automatically every gun to be registered in this country? i don't see the two are equated. >> it's a conspiracy theory leap and unfortunately, all the people who want guns aren't emily because if they were, we wouldn't have these mass tragedies that we see almost weekly right now. we wouldn't be, you know, in this studio ten minutes away from southeast d.c. where these people are reminded of the ravages of gun violence -- >> even though it's against the law in d.c. to bring a gun into your home. >> it is against the law. you know what they do? emily, they're not getting their gun from d.c. that's the problem. >> yes, they are. >> no, they're not getting their guns from d.c. >> how do you know? >> just like people in new york, there is a --

>> cornell, how do you know that? >> we know that because mayor bloomberg and the chief of police in new york city will tell you there is a pipeline of guns coming into the city from southern states. >> mayor bloomberg makes this stuff up. >> you're saying the chief of police is making up where the hand guns in his city come from? >> i believe the liberal police of chiefs in this country who are not elected like the sheriffs are have an agenda. that's why they support all this stuff. elected sheriffs in this country, they do not want more enforcement because they know they're not going to waste their time going after the law abiders. >> you're saying people who are elected sheriffs don't have an agenda, they don't need to kowtow to get re-elected? >> to big city mayors, absolutely. >> the thing i don't understand, i asked the nra this and i don't take a position on this, it's not my job, i'm not piers morgan here, i'm not trying to push an agenda -- >> thank god. >> but the thing i do not understand is if background checks have prevented some felons, some domestic abusers, some people who have been convicted of crimes in the past,

has prevented them from getting guns because they have lied on their background checks and have been caught, and we know the statistics on that, it has done that, why not expand them to prevent more people like them from getting guns? that's what i just don't understand. >> okay. this is how i'll explain it to you. there are practical issues involved we're not thinking about. the 28% or so people who don't buy their guns, you know, through the firearms dealers, who use the background check, again, it's between friends and family. so what we're going to have to do is pass some sort of law which requires them to then either go to the gun store and have this done or you know, somehow, i don't know how they're going to do this. we don't know how it will work out. how will you enforce it? we don't know who owns guns. we don't know who is exchanging guns. if someone has intent to commit a crime, you really think they're going to ask their uncle for a gun, that they're then going to go to a store and get an fbi background check if they're not legally supposed to be having one?

let's say tomorrow we said, congress -- say congress said tomorrow somehow this got passed which it's not going to, but let's say somehow congress passed a law that says any time you transfer a firearm in this country, you have to call the fbi and get a background check. >> you know what? we somehow figured out how to do it with cars. you can probably figure out how to do it with guns. i don't really know how the car system works. you know what, it seems to work. i'm buying a car right now. it's a pain in the butt but you got to do it. somehow that works. >> if you were going to take the car to do a drug deal to steal the car, you're sure not going to the dmv first. number one. number two, driving is a privilege. owning a firearm is a right. the government does not have to be in the middle of it because our founding fathers gave us the right to keep and bear arms. >> emily miller, great to have your voice on the program. thanks for being with us. cornell belcher as well. let us know what you think about this debate. coming up next, the world is holding its breath hoping nelson mandela will be okay. he's in the hospital again. we'll tell you why. also, oscar pistorius charged with murder, now free to roam the world.

what ever happened to don't leave town? why he gets to leave the country. also, my very careful visit, dropping in on crocodiles where they live and feed. you can finally see one. amazing. the beauty to it. but it's also incredibly intimidating. you really have the sense when you're so close to it just how strong it is and it looks right at you. and you know and it knows that it could attack you at any moment.

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oscar pistorius, so-called

blade runner who is charged in the shooting death of his girlfriend is now free to leave south africa. the judge allowed him to drink again and if he wants to return to the scene of the crime, his house. plenty of people not familiar with the south african legal system might be asking why an alleged murderer, an accused murderer not only gets bailed but a possible to return by the chief of justice. drew griffin is here to explain it to us. >> yeah, it is a head scratcher. >> what his attorneys have but is oscar pistorius a flight risk, what his attorneys argued is he's already out of jail. already allowed to live at his uncle's house. he's been determined not to be a flight risk so they say why put any restrictions on him at all? and they argue that in order for oscar to actually make a living, perhaps to afford legal defense, he does need to travel internationally to compete in meets.

well, the judge today agreed with that. here is what judge bert bam had to say in court. >> i could find no reason why the defendant should be forbidden to leave the republic of south africa if invited to compete in athletic events in other countries. >> oscar pistorius was not in court, anderson, but the judge did place some restrictions on that travel. pistorius will need to file an itinerary with the court a week in advance. he's going to have to surrender his passport within a day after returning to south africa but as you alluded to, there's more leniency in this bail. he can drink alcohol now and yes, he can return to the very house where he shot and killed reeva steenkamp on valentine's day. >> this victim, we're not to forget her in all of this, nor her family. was reeva steenkamp's family in court? did they object publicly to any of this? >> true to their word, they weren't in court and they won't comment they say on these particular court issues and

events that have been coming up from time to time. we did get in touch with mike, reeva's uncle, sort of the spokesperson for the family. he confirmed there wouldn't be a comment on the court proceedings except to say this. we're feeling a little bit lost about that. but he did want to tell us this about reeva. this is the time of year we are missing reeva so much. it's close to easter and she used to spend every easter with us. mike steenkamp told us that the family early on, they made a collective decision never to be in court for any of the proceedings, including the eventual murder trial of oscar pistorius. >> so interesting that they're not even going to be in court for the trial, they say. drew, appreciate the reporting. for more on this story, go to cnn.com. just ahead, television news icon barbara walters who broke so many barriers, so many big stories, got so many huge interviews, is making her own news tonight, deciding it's time to retire. we'll give you the details ahead. also, one of the most incredible experiences i've had

under water, in botswana, on the trail of man-eating crocodiles. >> it's hard to pursue the crocodile. i can't tell how large it is. i'm almost right on top of it. i can reach out right now and just touch the tail.

new revelations that will come as a bad body blow to the families of all those killed, wounded and terrorized by that man, the alleged doorstep killer, evan ebel. that's ahead on "360. for the times you need to double-check the temperature on the thermometer, be ready. for high fever, nothing works faster or lasts longer. be ready with children's motrin. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps.com you can print real u.s. postage for all your letters and packages. i have exactly the amount of postage i need, the instant i need it. can you print only stamps? no... first class. priority mail. certified. international. and the mail man picks it up. i don't leave the shop anymore. [ male announcer ] get a 4 week trial

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it looks like the end of an iconic era in tv news may be just around the corner. barbara walter is reportedly ready to retire. the news broke today, multiple reports that she is likely to retire may of next year. abc, the place where she hosted "the view" since 1997 in addition to prime time specials isn't commenting officially. walters is 83 years old. she's had some recent health problems. she had heart surgery in 2010, took some time off earlier this

year to recover from chickenpox and a concussion. let's talk about it with bill carter who covers the tv industry for the "new york times." bill, good to have you on again. this is truly the end of an era when she retires. any idea why she's reportedly doing this now? >> well, she hasn't said. i think she will say. i think she will explain it, but i think this news leaked a little early, obviously. i think they were planning on her doing it on her own terms, on the show, probably in may, to say it will be a year from now. but i think, you know, given her age and given her health situation, it's probably just come to her it's a good time for her to stop. >> does that mean stopping from "the view" as well? because she also has not just on air responsibilities, she's the co-owner, the co-producer of "the view." >> yes. yeah, i don't know about whether she'll continue to be supervising on that show. i think she is going to withdraw from appearing every day on the show. that show's not a really taxing show. you know, basically it's a discussion show and i don't

think it requires as much work but i also think, you know, the whole notion of getting herself up, getting herself on the air, made up, you know the process, it's not always the easiest thing in the world to do every day of your life and i think probably she's decided that this is a good time for her to step away from that. >> they've had pretty taxing moments on "the view" over the years, i must say, though. >> yes, they have. yes. >> both on camera and behind the scenes. but i mean -- >> mainly off. >> mainly off. but it is remarkable. i read her autobiography when it came out and her career is just extraordinary. more than half a century in this business. it's really hard to exaggerate her legacy and her effect on this profession, particularly i think for women journalists. >> well, you have to remember when she started on the "today" show in 1962, the women were considered sort of ornaments to television. they were not considered to be journalists. and she forced her way into that role. she really did. through force of will. and once she got inside that,

she's a very determined and ambitious and bright woman, and she just is relentless and always was. pushed her way into being a serious news person, took the job as co-anchor of abc evening news and that blew up but then she remade herself again. >> she was treated horribly by co-workers, as i recall. >> she was. that was a famous reaction he had, he didn't want a co-anchor at all but to have the first woman, it was amazing to see almost the ice-cold aspect on the air. they virtually never could do a two shot with them together. they could only do them separately. but she recovered from that rather remarkably, because she still talks about that as an incredible low point in her career. but she was doing interviews with every big figure in the news at that point. she was part of that whole shuttle diplomacy era, flying back and forth in the middle east, a big begin and sadat, and

all the other big figures, castro, gadhafi and all these very famous figures in history that she sat down with. >> i think every president since nixon, she's talked to. i had her on the show recently, couple months ago, talking about moammar gadhafi, who she had interviewed several times. just the amount of travel, the amount of situations that she put herself in is really extraordinary. >> yes. and most of the time, it was through her own booking. she would get on the phone and book these people. you know barbara was often criticized for her social activity because she would socialize with a lot of people but a lot of that was calculated on her part. she knew how to make relationships, get insiders to listen to her, and then she could book them and get big gets. that's what her business was. >> i hope she's on air for a long time to come. bill carter, appreciate you being with us. thanks. >> nice to be with you, anderson. let's get you caught up on some of the other stories we're following right now. susan hendricks is here with the "360" bulletin. >> former south african president nelson mandela remains hospitalized for a lung

infection. he is said to be responding positively to treatment. he was conscious when he was admitted. it is the second time this month the 94-year-old man has appeared since 2010. evan ebel, the parolee threatened to kill a prison guard in september, 2005. that was just six months after he entered prison. now the record shows that ebel had 28 violations during his incarceration, including three assaults. as a result, his original three-year sentence grew to eight years. much of that time was served in solitary confinement. today we also learned ebel was wearing an ankle bracelet to track his movements before the attack last week. it is unclear when me removed it. also a 22-year-old woman appeared in court today, accused of purchasing the gun that ebel used in the killing. she faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted. ebel couldn't make the purchase himself since he's a convicted

felon. in washington state, five homes have now been declared unlivable. as you see why. that's according to our affiliate komo. amazingly no one was injured after that massive landslide on wednesday. police in reading, california are looking for this guy. a would-be burglar caught on tape with what is believed to be women's stockings on his head. throwing a rock at the front door of the grocery store. the suspect fled when the alarm went off, and then he tripped and fell. not too bright. back to you. up next, see what it's like to dive with deadly crocodiles. i know i should be terrified but the truth is it's actually thrilling. i'm looking at it right in the face, staring at it face to face. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib:

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just ahead, i come face-to-face under water with the deadly nile crocodile.

welcome back. i recently filed a report for cbs' "60 minutes" about nile crocodiles. they're prehistoric creatures who can grow up to 20 feet. bite as hard as a dinosaur. i went diving with two daring film makers and it was one of the most incredible experiences i've ever had, a rare chance to show others what few had ever seen. as i said, my guides were two wildlife film makers who are doing pioneering work getting up close with nile crocodiles under water to try to unlock their mysteries. although these sometimes man-eating creatures are as old as dinosaurs, kind of little is known about their behavior under water. studying them under water was always thought to be impossible. turns out it's not.

take a look. >> the delta has been called one of the last edens on earth. hundreds of miles of winding waterways and untouched islands are home to some of africa's most exotic and enchanting wildlife. it's also home to tens of thousands of nile crocodiles. for the last five years, brad and his wife andi crawford have been risking their living filming these man eaters in the most daring way imaginable. following the crocodiles into their underwater lairs. it is a dark and foreboding world down there. visibility is sometimes only a few feet. you can't even see the crocodiles until you catch a glimpse of their long rows of razor-sharp white teeth. how did you know you could do this? >> we were next to a ledge and

this crocodile swam up and actually swam between us, and then settled on the ground next to us. >> what first went through your mind? >> well, lots of bubbles and just panic. >> the panic was understandable. nile crocodiles are africa's largest and most feared predator. but surprisingly, this one didn't attack. brad and andi have been getting closer and closer to these creatures ever since. >> you do get a different sense of them. they're very beautiful animals, speckled in gold and black, and you see them as more timid, i think, beyond the teeth and the terror. there's an incredible creature that is actually an amazing animal in its own right. >> you actually think they're beautiful? >> i do think they're beautiful. i didn't used to think they're beautiful. but this is a whole different view of them. >> this is the view most people have of nile crocodiles. patient and stealthy killers,

they grab their prey, drag them into the water, then drown and dismember them. it's not just animals they eat. hundreds of people in africa are killed each year while bathing, laundering clothes or fishing along the water's edge. nile crocodiles are now protected in botswana but brad and andi believe more needs to be known about their behavior so humans can better avoid them. they have invited dr. adam briton, a zooologist, to dive with them. >> when you first heard about what they were doing, what did you think? >> i'll be honest. when i first heard about this, my instant immediate reaction was that sounds crazy. >> dr. briton has been studying crocodiles for more than 18 years. >> i describe crocodiles like ferraris. they're just extremely finely honed creatures. they are just perfectly adapted to do what they do. you know, they're the smartest of all the reptiles. >> briton is building a genetic data base on nile crocodiles in the delta to better understand how to protect them. for years, the only way to study

them up close was to capture them. >> once i have him by the mouth -- >> it is difficult, dangerous work. >> one, two, come on. >> get his legs. >> there you go. >> what are you doing now? >> i'm just going to cover his eyes so that he can't see what we're doing. >> so he's not injured at all? >> no, no, he's not injured. apart from his pride, perhaps. >> this crocodile is not sedated. it's simply trying to conserve its energy. >> why are you doing this? >> if we can get a sample of all the dna from every single crocodile across the delta, then we can start to build up a picture then of exactly not only where these crocodiles came from, but how they're moving within the delta. >> because right now you don't

really know that? >> no one really knows anything about that at all. >> when you actually see the crocodiles up close, there is a beauty to them, often in pictures they're covered in mud, they look very drab. but up close, you see the variety of color, not just on the top but also on the bottom. and the touch, really, there's a softness to them particularly on the feet like this, the claws are about an inch, inch and a half, but the pads of the feet are actually incredibly soft. capturing crocodiles is stressful to the animal and for us. putting them back in the water is just as hard. >> just keep pressing down on the top of the skull. that's good. ready to go. okay. three, two, one. go. >> diving with brad and andi has given the doctor a whole new understanding of crocodiles and their underwater world. >> you're in the water, you've got the current washing over you, you can feel the changes in temperature. you think this is what it's like

to be a crocodile. this crocodile is experiencing these same things. >> briton has actually begun to take dna samples from crocodiles underwater, cutting off pieces of their tail. incredibly, they don't seem to mind. diving with nile crocodiles is only possible in the winter months, when the water is chilly and the animals are sluggish. these cold-blooded reptiles are far too dangerous to dive with in the summer. >> the crocs are much more active, much more inclined to want to attack. yeah. they want to go eat something. >> so two months from now, three months from now, you would not dive in these waters? >> no. no. i don't want to die. make no mistake. i do this because i get an understanding of how these predators work. >> brad has spent his whole life around these predators. he grew up here in the delta and these home movies show his grandfather, who is a legendary crocodile hunter.

>> he was here in 25 years and shot in excess of 30,000 crocodiles. >> your grandfather killed about 30,000 crocodiles. >> more than -- well, very close to what's the entire population today. >> brad and andi offer to take me diving with them, explaining it's crucial to get off the surface of the water as quickly as possible, because that's where the crocs attack. >> that's the most important thing. as soon as you're underwater, we believe the crocodiles don't know what we are. they don't recognize us as prey. >> you say we believe. do you know? >> we don't know for sure. we can never know how they are perceiving us. we try to establish how they perceive us. >> again, you're not really building my confidence here by saying you're not sure. what do i need to know before going in? >> well, we believe you're safe. with all that uncertainty, we believe you're safe. >> safe? take a look at a recent encounter they had with a crocodile. >> you see how close he comes to me? >> look at the eyes. look at those teeth. those are huge.

>> this croc was 12 feet long and weighed about 1,400 pounds. >> there's the diver. >> oh, my gosh. because the croc's moving, it doesn't even really sense that diver's there. >> it didn't even know he was there. you'll see how it just goes, it hits his light. >> so it just thinks that's some debris or tree or something. >> yeah. >> that's amazing. we set off early the next day. it's an hour up river to a spot that has a lot of underwater caves. three divers will go in with me, brad, the cameraman, richard, and andi. she'll be the safety diver watching our backs. >> we'll let you know if we see a crocodile first. >> the international sign for crocodile? >> it's our sign for crocodile. brad does this. >> i didn't learn that in scuba school. >> we're going to give you one of these to dive with. it makes you feel better. it gives you some barrier --

>> makes you feel better? >> well, you'll be in the current. >> you don't want to drift on to the crocodile. >> as soon as the crocodiles see our boat, they disappear. we hope they've gone to the bottom to hide in their underwater caves but they might still be floating near the surface, waiting to attack. >> it's a very strange feeling before you go diving because you know the crocodile's in this area but you don't see any on the surface. the problem is that the boat comes in, any motion on the surface does tend to attract crocodiles. you want to try to get here and in the water and to the bottom as quickly as possible. >> we suit up, do our final checks, and then take the plunge. >> go with anderson. okay. stamps.com is the best.

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now part two of my report on nile crocodiles. i went to botswana to go diving with these magnificent, sometimes man-eating creatures. i was in good hands. my guides were wildlife film makers, brad and his wife andi. they have been studying these reptiles up close underwater for five years now. as i prepared to come face-to-face with my first crocodile, i followed their first piece of advice. once you leave the boat, don't linger at the water's surface because that is where crocodiles attack. here's what happened next. >> anderson, good. okay.

>> we get to the river bottom as quickly as we can. it's only about 15 feet deep. thankfully, the visibility is good and we find ourselves in a stunning underwater garden with overhanging ledges, walls of papyrus, submerged trees and lilies. >> we know there's at least one crocodile in this area because we saw the ripples on the water. we believe it's gone into a nearby cave system so we're going to go into the caves right now to try to see if we can find it. >> it's eerie and intimidating down here. the only light comes from our camera and it's easy to lose your way. brad signals that he sees a crocodile. at first i can't see anything, but then out of the darkness, on the floor of the cave just as

brad warned, i see that gleaming row of white teeth. i finally see one. amazing. the beauty to it, but it's also incredibly intimidating. you really have the sense when you're so close to it just how strong it is and it looks right at you, and you know and it knows that it could attack you at any moment and there's nothing you could do about it. >> the crocodile disappears into the darkness. we push further into the cave. it gets narrower and more claustrophobic as we move deeper into the gloom. then, lurking on a nearby ledge, there's another crocodile. >> this crocodile's about nine feet long. its tail makes up about half its length. crocs have the amazing ability to actually slow their heart rate down, they can close off one of the valves in their heart

which stops the flow of blood to some of its organs and allows them to stay underwater for hours at a time. it's amazing how close a crocodile is. you can't tell if it's watching you or not. >> suddenly the crocodile backs away. it's not taking its eyes off me. i have no idea what it's going to do. my heart is pounding. neither of us moves. then with a flick of his tail, he's off. we move further through the undergrowth and find yet another crocodile. this time, it's facing me head on. on the stick, i'm holding, i have a small camera and i move it closer to try and get a better shot.

i know i should be terrified but the truth is it's actually thrilling. >> it's extraordinary to get so close. literally looking at it right in the face, staring face-to-face. a crocodile's front vision is not very good, so this is actually a relatively safe place to be. the crocodile is also laying low, which is a good sign. if he rises up on his feet, that would be an indication he could be willing to strike. >> when it finally takes off, we start following it. the crocodile is kicking up so much sand and sediment we can't see where we're going.

>> we're trying to pursue the crocodile right now. i can't tell how large it is. its tail is so curved, i'm almost right on top of it. i could reach out right now and just touch the tail but i'm worried if i do that, it will somehow turn around. it just doesn't seem like a good idea but i got to say it's so tempting. >> the croc is moving so fast, we can't keep up for long. it's time to surface and find the boat. that was amazing. i was right on top of it. i was right on its tail. i could have touched it. >> and then he turns around -- >> then he turns around. i swear there was a moment i thought he could just attack. there was nothing i could do about it. >> did you ever feel like he was going to attack? >> no. well, maybe a little bit, actually. i dived with great white sharks before but in terms of numbers of people killed each year, nile crocodiles are far more deadly. ones ruthlessly hunted, still vilified as mindless killing

machines, we can finally observe them as they really are. perfect evolved denizens of the dark, ancient creatures now for the first time fully visible in the light. just want to reiterate, you should not go diving with crocodiles or alligators, the two divers i went with are very experienced. they have been diving with nile crocodiles for more than five years now and there's a very limited window for when they are able to go, when the water is at a certain temperature and the crocodiles are sluggish and therefore, not as hungry. we'll be right back.

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housing prices around the country are starting to climb back. tonight's "american journey report" devastating foreclosure crisis to see how the rising prices are impacting them and what they're doing to fight their way back from the brink of financial disaster. >> reporter: when the housing crash came, no place was hit harder than georgetown south, a distant suburb of washington where the foreclosure rates shot to 30%. some plunged in value from $300,000 to just $40,000. people moved out. crime and squalor moved in. >> this right back here were french glass doors. inside hardwood, brand new cabinets. >> but the community never lost its voice. meg carol is part of an

aggressive effort by some 50 churches, mosques and synagogues called voice and they're saving this community from ruin. cleaning up, maintaining and taking care of properties that are abandoned or sometimes in the neglectful hands of banks. >> when i say the investors don't care, the same way as homeowners, you can see that they don't. >> the goal? keep the neighborhood livable until better times come. reverend keith savage. >> banks only listen to other people who have power and organization. >> by pooling the efforts of many community activists, voice has effectively pushed banks to help pay for financial counseling. more affordable homes here and to help rewrite the loans for those families who have stayed through all the turmoil. >> most of them aren't having trouble with the income anymore. but they're having trouble now that they've regained their footing of getting the banks to work with them so that they can keep this community a home-owner occupied community instead of a rental community. >> it has been a long and lonely